Brake Controller

Brake controllers are an essential part of a towing system with electric trailer brakes, and they offer a much-needed emergency braking feature. We offer high quality controllers from manufacturers such as Draw-Tite, Tekonsha, Valley, Hidden Hitch and Hopkins. Featuring both time-delay and proportional models, we have the right controller for any application. Brake controller wiring adapters are available for many vehicles, allowing for simple plug-and-play installation. Hardwire kits are also available to make any installation hassle-free.

Find your custom fit brake controller wiring adapter for a plug-in application by selecting the year of your vehicle to the left. We offer custom fit plug in adapters for many of the most popular vehicles, including Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, GMC, Nissan, and Toyota.

Today we are going to show how to remove the break shoes on a typical electric break axle, this one in particular is a twelve inch drum. We are using that one because it is large and easy to see. This applies to virtually all electric brakes from this size on up and down to the smaller sizes. We will go over how it comes apart and the tools you will need to do it with.

Today we are going to cover a frequently asked question. It really turns up a lot. And actually it is easier than you think. Basically, if you have a pickup and you got a tow package with it and you got one of these wire harnesses that plug underneath the dash and plugs into your brake controller, you might have five or sometimes even more wires coming off of it. And you notice that your brake controller only uses four. We have got one over here, we will show you, that has just the four wires and what do you do with the extra wires? The short answer is do not worry about it, because the brake controller has all that it needs from these four wires.

Today we are going to talk about the two main kinds of brake controllers, the proportional and the time delay. The two we have here are the Journey HD and the Draw-Tite Activator II. These are what you call the time delay brake controllers. Basically what happens is that when you hit the brakes, they come on at a certain speed that you set on the brake controller. Like on this one here, we have a sync switch here that controls how fast it comes on and then this knob here controls how much power it takes to stop the trailer. Basically you hit your foot brake and it comes on at the rate you determine and at how much power you have set aside for it, and then it stays there until you completely let off the brake.

Today we are going to cover a few notes on testing an electronic brake controller. What we are going to cover here is going to apply to virtually all brake controllers. Basically, if you run into a problem where you think your brake controller is not working, well, it could be a the brake controller or it could be something in the truck itself, in the connector or c it actually could be problems in the trailer. What we are going to show you today is how to look for problems that will either rule out the brake controller or make sure that it is the brake controllers fault. Just like any electronic devices, they seem to have a limited lifespan some will work for years and some will not. But this way you can also verify that it is working good.

Today we will show you part number ETBC7 brake controller installation kit. What this kit does is it fills in the blanks between your 4 pole connector and the brake controller. Basically on the instructions of your brake controller, it will show you a link between the foot brake and stop light switch, a battery, and then a line going out to the connector out back. This kit here fills in those missing pieces. We will cover each individual part. First we will start from the rear of the vehicle and work our way forward. This part here is 7 and 4 pole to 4 pole adapter. This will plug into your existing 4 pole that you have on your vehicle. It just plugs in like normal while this white wire gets grounded to the body of the vehicle. You will have a couple extra wires. The black wire will be ran to the battery. This blue wire here gets run to the blue wire on the brake controller.

Alright, today on this 2009 Ford F-150 we are going to diagnose a brake controller problem. Now we can use these steps on any brake controller that is on the market to verify if it is working or not. Now our brake controller is already telling us that it has an error message. It is flashing an Er on top. Usually it means an internal problem. We tested our trailer so we know it is good. So, it is not that. So first off we will make sure we have a constant 12 volt power supply. We will check the black wire first. OK, we are good there. Now we will try our red wire for our brake signal. OK, that is good there. Now we will try our blue wire and that will be our output. So we should have output on this wire whenever we hit the foot brake or the manual override. OK, we get nothing on the foot brake and nothing on the manual override. So definitely the error is internal and this brake controller does have to be replaced.

All right what we are going to do on this install is the reverse light lead to our electrical connector. For instance on a 5-pole you can use this on a boat trailer that has a reverse lock out for hydraulic brakes on it. Also you can use on a 7-pole application the trailer may have reverse lights on the back of it. Some RVs have a reverse light hook up on the back of it. I will show you the basic generic steps of how it is installed. 00:22

Today on 2011 Ford Edge, we're going to be installing the Tekonsha Prodigy P2 trailer brake controller. This controls 1 to 4 axles, and it is proportional. The part number on it is 90885. To do our install, we're also going to be using part number ETBC7. This is going to be the wiring for our brake controller, and part number 18136, which is going to be a no drill bracket mount. Here's what your brake controller is going to look like once you've got it installed onto your Edge. What these allow us to do is fine tune the amount of braking force that our trailer is going to exert as opposed to some of the older styles that used pressure or friction when you stopped or we're trying to back up to apply the brakes. This gives us a manual override here to where we can apply our trailer brakes before we've even hit our vehicle brakes, and as you'll see her, it's fully adjustable up and down to give us the appropriate braking force.

Today on our 2003 Ford F350 Super Duty we'll be installing the Tekonsha Prodigy P2 brake controller, part number 90885. We'll be doing this in conjunction with the Tekona Plug-N-Play wiring adapter for the brake controller, part number 3035-P. Let's go ahead and connect the trailer braking. Once connected our display will read or show a C that indicates our trailer wiring is connected. Then on the driver side of the brake controller is our gain, which will allow us to increase or decrease the output and power going to our trailer braking. On the passenger side of the brake controller at the top is our boost mode button. We have three different boost modes that can be adjusted as necessary depending on the trailer's size and weight.

Today, we're going to show you part number 51110 from Curt. This is the Venturer Trailer Brake Controller. Now also to help us with our install, because our brake controller is going to plug in to the factory tow package port underneath the dash, we'll be using part number C51436. This is the Curt Custom Wiring Adapter for Trailer Brake Controllers. Here's the brake controller we have mounted in our truck. We'll go ahead cover some of the features and controls. First off, this is your manual override on your trailer.

Today on our 2005 Chevy Colorado, we'll be installing the Takonsha Primus IQ trailer brake controller, part number TK90160. With this brake controller, we will be using the universal 7-pin wiring kit, part number ETBC7. We'll start at the rear of the vehicle. On this particular vehicle, there was already a 4-way trailer connector installed. We will begin by finding a location to mount he 7-way and 4-way trailer connector. On this particular, we we're able to mount the bracket just under the bumper edge. To mount the 7- and 4-way trailer connector bracket to the bumper, we used 2 self-tapping screws. To make things easier, we will go ahead and make some of our wire connections on the table before we install the 7- and 4-way trailer connector up on the vehicle.

Today, on our 2005 Volvo XC90, we're going to install the Tekonsha Prodigy P2 Brake Controller, part number 90885. Because this vehicle is not equipped with the manufactures 7-pole wiring, we're going to need the etrailer ETBC7 Brake Controller Install Kit. Let's check out brake controller. Here we can see we have the two lights indicating we have power. On the driver's side of the brake controller is the thumb wheel adjustment for adding or reducing power going to the trailer braking. On the passenger side is the push button for changing the boost modes for the aggressiveness of the power going to our trailer braking. Next I'll connect my trailer, then on on the LED display will show a C, showing trailer connection. Then as we press on the vehicles brake pedal, the numbers will go up as necessary. Since we're not moving we don't need any power going to our trailer braking. If in an emergency situation we need to slow down our trailer without using the vehicle brake pedal, we can use the manual sweep at the bottom to send power to the trailer braking only. Once we unhook our trailer electrical from the vehicle, you'll see the LED flash a NC, which stands for no connection. To begin our install, we'll open up the hatch and lower the tailgate, then you're going to pull the cargo liner out of the way, set it aside, open up the rear cargo compartment, unlatch it so that we can remove it. Here we see the 4-pole harness is stored.

Today on our 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee we're going to be installing the Tekonsha Prodigy P2 brake controller, part number 90885. Note, this vehicle is already equipped with the manufacturer's 7-pole so we'll need to add our brake controller, the 4-pole plug that comes with our brake controller, and the Draw-Tite brake controller install kit, part number 5506. The additional wiring will be used to connect the power and ground for our brake controller. Now let's first go ahead and find the manufacturer's blue wire that will supply brake controller power to the 7-pole connector. on this application it's located above the driver side kick panel taped to the manufacturer's wiring harness. We'll go ahead and locate the blue wire and either cut or pull it free. We can see the blue wire here taped to the manufacturer's wiring and above the driver side foot rest.

Today on our 2003 Dodge Ram we'll be installing the Tekonsha Prodigy P3 brake controller, part number 90195. Now to make our install a little easier we're also going to use the Tekonsha Plug & Play wiring adapter, part number 3020-P. This will connect directly to the manufacturer's brake controller port. Now to begin our install we'll locate the manufacturer's brake controller port. It's going to be behind the emergency brake pedal coming off the manufacturer's wiring harness right next to the module. This is a blue connector with four wires running into it. Once we locate the connector we can go ahead and take the direct-fit wiring harness, taking the white connector end and plugging it into the manufacturer's brake controller port.

Today on our 2013 Toyota FJ Cruiser, we'll be installing the Tekonsha Primus IQ trailer Brake Controller, part number TK90160. In order to install our brake controller, we're also going to need to install the E-Trailer Universal Installation Kit for Trailer Brake Controllers, part number ETBC7. We're going to first begin our installation by opening up the rear hatch of the vehicle. Next, we'll need to get into this pocket right here, as this vehicle already has four flat wiring installed on it. We're going to need to route this four flat wiring down underneath the vehicle. To do that, there's two rubber grommets behind this panel here that we'll route our wiring through. We're going to need to remove this rubber grommet right here as well as one from underneath. Here on the driver's side, we need to remove this rubber plug right here.

You will want to start from the beginning to make sure the wires are all connected properly on your 1991 Ford F-150. It sounds like you have somehow connected a 12V constant power wire to your connector.
I have attached a drawing that shows how the pins should be wired on a 6-way trailer connector. The drawing shows both the trailer and the vehicle side of a 6-way round plug.
The red wire that is coming from the brake controller should be connected to the cold side of the brake...view full answer...

It sounds like you have a great plan for travel with your new 2015 Honda Odyssey.
The draw-Tite Activator lV Brake Controller, part # 5504 that you referenced is a time-delayed brake controller that uses a preset intensity for applying the brakes.
To be honest, I would recommend a proportional brake controller like the Tekonsha Primus IQ, part # TK90160. This applies the brakes on your camper in direct proportion to the amount of intensity you apply to the brake pedal in your towing...view full answer...

We had another customer with a similar problem say that his P3 Brake Controller part # 90195 would lock up the trailer brake while at campground speeds and he was able to prevent that problem by turning the boost of the controller down to zero.
You might also double check to make sure your brake controller is orientated properly with the direction of travel. Check out the picture I attached for more info.view full answer...

You can use the harness like part # 20127 for your P3 Brake Controller, part # 90195 on your 2008 GMC Sierra. You will have to modify it a bit since there is no harness connector under the dash of your Sierra to just simply plug in to.
You would need to cut the end of the harness off that plugged into the port on your 2001 Sierra, and hardwire it as the included help article explains. You can still use the harness to provide a quick disconnect for the controller. In the help article...view full answer...

There are basically 2 types of brake controllers: time delay and proportional. I would only recommend using a time delay controller if the trailer weight never changes since they require a lot more adjustment and fine tuning to get the trailer braking right when compared to proportional controllers.
A proportional controller will apply the trailer brakes in proportion to how much your 2015 Chevy Traverse is braking. As such it is the safest way to stop and reduces wear and tear on the...view full answer...

According to my technical contact at Hayes, their # HA100400B Air Actuated Trailer Brake Controller for electric trailer brakes CAN be used with vehicles like your Mack that have a positive ground electrical system. All you need to do is give a call to Hayes when you do your installation for instructions on how to convert the polarity. No additional parts are required.view full answer...

Yes, for the Prodigy RF Brake Controller part # 90250 that you referenced the only circuit you will need to be active for the controller to function is the taillight circuits and the 12 volt accessory circuit.
I attached an install video for this brake controller for you to check out as well.view full answer...

Sounds like you connected the red (stoplight switch circuit) wire to the wrong circuit on your truck. When the cruise control on a vehicle starts acting up that is a tell-tale sign that the wrong circuit is being used for the red wire.
What you want to do is use a circuit tester like part # 3808 to test the wires near the brake pedal to find the circuit that only sees 12 volts when the brakes are applied and none when the brakes are released. Correcting this should take care of both...view full answer...

To install your P2 Brake Controller part # 90885 in your 2014 Ford F-150 with the tow package all you need is the correct install harness, part # 22292. The # 3035-P would not work for you so I cannot recommend it for you.
To see how the brake controller and harness will install in a very similar 2013 Ford F-150 check out the install video I attached.view full answer...

This is a tough one. Finding the source of the problem can be really tough and time consuming.
Unfortunately, if your P3 # 90195 is receiving power and showing a display, the problem will be in the wiring somewhere between the brake controller and the brakes, and not any of the fuses. When you said that the brakes are no longer being applied I assume you are talking about both sides. If just the right side is not working then the problem will be in the wire that splits on the harness...view full answer...

Is it the marker lights on the truck or on the trailer that aren't working? I believe the corrosion in your 7-way to 4-pole adapter caused something to short out, which probably damaged your trailer connector. I'd recommend a replacement like part # HM40975.
If the malfunctioning running lights are on the truck, check the fuse box under the hood next to the battery. The lid of the fuse box will have a diagram showing which fuse protects which circuit.
If it's the trailer running...view full answer...

If you are seeing just the dot with a trailer connected and it does not change when you use the manual override knob or the press the brake pedal that indicates a poor connection on the brake output wire.
This can be caused by a dirty or corroded trailer connector. Check the vehicle and trailer side trailer connectors and make sure they are clean and free of corrosion inside and out.
You can also test the brake controller. At the back of the truck you can test the brake output pin...view full answer...

The factory brake controller in your 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 is not compatible with electric over hydraulic brakes without an adapter. It sounds like you are getting a current and they are working but as you said the level is set much higher.
You may have an issue with the trailer battery that is hooked up to the actuator. You should charge it or check to see if it needs to be replaced. That may be why you need to increase the voltage from the brake controller.
It is recommended...view full answer...

The green light on the Tekonsha Voyager # 39510 indicates that the controller senses that a trailer is connected. If the knob on the left side of the controller is turned up and the brakes of the tow vehicle are applied the light should begin to pulsate between orange and green. If yours isn't doing this I would suspect that the brake light wire (red) of the controller is not connected to a circuit that sees voltage when the brakes are applied.
You will want to find a circuit that sees...view full answer...

There are a few differences between the two controllers.
The Voyager has been around for a looooooooong time. It uses an internal pendulum to determine how quickly the tow vehicle is braking. In order to operate correctly, this level of the pendulum needs to be adjusted. The Voyager also lacks a digital display which makes troubleshooting more difficult. The controller does not provide boost settings and is not compatible with electric over hydraulic braking systems.
The Prodigy P3...view full answer...

Since your 2002 Nissan Frontier did not come with a factory 7-Way you will need to hardwire in a brake controller such as the P2 # 90885. You will just need to use an installation kit # 5506.
To install the controller you will need to attach the white brake controller wire to the negative battery terminal. Black goes to the positive terminal via the circuit breaker included with the 5506 kit. The blue wire will need to connect to the back of the 7-Way in the 7 oclock position if looking...view full answer...

A brake controller isn't a vehicle specific item, so you can use just about any brake controller you wish. There are two types of controllers, time delayed or proportional. A time delayed controller will always send the same amount of voltage to the trailer brakes (depending on how the controller's been set) whether you're tapping on the pedal or braking very hard. A proportional controller can sense how quickly the tow vehicle is stopping, and will send the proper amount of voltage to...view full answer...

Sounds like you need a 7-way connection. I recommend # ETBC7 as it includes everything you need to install an electric trailer brake controller and 7-way connector.
If you happen to need a brake controller I recommend the Prodigy P2 # 90885. It is extremely easy to install and operate. Since your 2015 Ford Explorer does not have a factory tow package you can use the included wiring harness as a hardwire installation.
I have included a few installation videos, FAQ's and instructions...view full answer...

I spoke with my technical contact at Tekonsha and with a little research we found that the brake controller that is currently in your 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee is actually an aftermarket controller manufactured by Curt but branded Mopar. When it comes to replacing this brake controller with the Tekonsha Prodigy P3 Trailer Brake Controller, # 90195, we recommend using the Tekonsha Plug-In Wiring Adapter, # 3045-P, to ensure compatibility.
As for mounting the P3 in your Cherokee, there...view full answer...